OK, Angry Birds Land doesn’t exist yet — not in the United States, at least — but the maker of the wildly popular mobile game is branching into other realms, from movies to theme parks, in a sign of what’s in store for the future of entertainment. One minute a game is a 99-cent smartphone distraction, and the next it’s a rival to Disney.

If you haven’t heard of Angry Birds (unlikely), or played it (quite possible), Angry Birds is a game that’s all about using slingshots to launch birds at pigs. The concept is ridiculous, and the reality is addictive. You can now play various versions of the game, including Angry Birds Star Wars, Seasons, and Rio.

In just three years, the game has been transformed from an amusing iPhone diversion from a Finnish company into a worldwide cultural phenomenon, with T-shirts, posters and movie tie-ins. It didn’t exist, and then it was everywhere.

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Rovio, the maker of the game, is now capitalizing on this and expanding far beyond its roots as an iPhone game. As you would expect, the game is now available on other mobile phones and tablets. You can also play it on videogame consoles and the Roku television streaming device. An Angry Birds area opened at the Särkänniemi Adventure Park in Finland last summer, and others are planned around the world. An Angry Birds exhibit, “Angry Birds Space Encounter,” opened recently at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. And John Cohen, producer of “Despicable Me,” has been enlisted as producer of a Rovio-financed Angry Birds movie.

There’s lots of hype, but there’s also the reality of the place of these games in kids’ imaginations. The other day, I asked my 6-year-old son what he did at recess. His answer? Played Angry Birds, which apparently meant pretending one kid was a slingshot, the other was a bird, and they launched each other across the playground.
Rovio may be one model for what an entertainment company looks like in the 21st century. The big names in 20th century entertainment (Fox, Disney, Universal) had their roots in film. Their 21st century equivalents may be app makers. Remember, Mickey Mouse was just a talking mouse.

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In one move likely to be copied by others, Rovio is now including cartoon channels within all of its games. Open Angry Birds, and a screen appears saying, “The Brand New Angry Birds Cartoon Series, ‘Toons.’ WATCH IT NOW!” You play the game, and without even leaving it, you start to watch cartoons.

The company will release 52 episodes, with a new one each week. There’s no cable provider, no ABC or NBC, not even a television — just the app (though the episodes will also be available through some traditional TV channels).

With moves like this, Rovio isn’t just trying to define the type of entertainment we watch, but also where we watch it and what companies profit from it. It’s essentially attempting a high-stakes experiment in the underlying economics of the entertainment business. Cartoons used to be on TV. Now they’re on our phones and tablet computers, and they may even be available within the apps our kids view as a major source of entertainment. This makes perfect sense. After all, why not deliver cartoons directly to kids’ entertainment-of-choice.

The market is astounding. As Rovio’s CEO, Mikael Hed, put it, “With over 1.7 billion downloads, we can reach a far wider and more engaged global audience than traditional distribution would allow.” Rovio may not be the Disney of this century, but it’s angling for that. Cartoons today, theme parks and blockbuster films tomorrow. That’s the idea, and only time will tell whether it works — for Rovio or another would-be Disney.Allan Hoffman can be reached via his website, allanhoffman.com.